El Cristo Rey Chapel -- Grand Canyon, Ariz.

Destination: A short walk away from the south rim of the Grand Canyon sits El Cristo Rey Chapel, a small wooden building that serves as the spiritual home of the Catholic families who work at the national park.
Winter Mass schedule starts on the first Sunday of December through March at El Cristo Rey. Masses are Sundays at 9 a.m. Summer Masses, April to October at El Cristo Rey, are Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. and Sundays, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.
Why to go: El Cristo Rey, a parish of the Phoenix Diocese, has 26 registered families, who are “always outnumbered by the tourists,” says Father Rafael Bercasio, pastor.

(CNS photos)

The chapel is located within the boundaries of Grand Canyon Village, a residential neighborhood of around 1,500 households that includes a school, a grocery store and a post office. Residents are employed as park rangers and naturalists, maintenance workers, and hotel, restaurant and retail staff. Some live there only six months out of the year, although the park is open year-round.
From his base at El Cristo Rey, Father Bercasio also ministers to a mostly Hispanic community founded five years ago about 30 miles outside the entrance to the park.
El Cristo Rey Chapel was officially established in 1960, although priests from the Diocese of Gallup, N.M., began coming to celebrate Mass for El Tovar’s workers around 1919-1920.Father Bercasio celebrates a daily Mass at 8 a.m., and most of the time, he said, he is the only one in attendance. He celebrates two Masses on Sundays, plus a vigil on Saturdays in summer.
“I always commend the tourists for fulfilling their obligation,” he said. “You are in the midst of your gallivanting and still you are here. It is a testimony that your faith does not take a vacation. It’s very inspiring.”
(Grand) Kid friendly: Everyone is welcome to attend Mass at the church.
Info: Address: El Cristo Rey Parish, 44 Albright Ave., PO Box 505,  Grand Canyon, AZ 86023    Phone — 928/351-7282   Website — http://www.elcristorey.org/
— CNS; Sharon Boehlefeld contributed to this story.
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DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun -- Tucson, Ariz.

(CNS photos/Nancy Wiechec)

Destination: Despite the May 29 fire (see the June 9 Nation/World section) that severely damaged the adobe structure and frescoes by artist Ted DeGrazia in the Mission in the Sun, it’s still well worth visiting the late artist’s Gallery in the Sun outside Tucson, Ariz.
Masses are not offered in the nondenominational Mission in the Sun that DeGrazia built in 1952 to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe and Jesuit missionary Father Eusebio Kino (see painting, right). There are Mass options in nearby Tucson, though.

LEFT: “Altar Valley Padre Kino Entrada 1687.” It is part of the Padre Kino Collection at the gallery.


Why to go: There are six permanent collections at the gallery, among them DeGrazia and Padre Kino, Retrospective Collection, and DeGrazia Paints the Yaqui Easter.
This year, the rotating collection, “The Way of the Cross”
 remains open until Aug. 30.
The influence of DeGrazia’s Catholic upbringing — he stopped practicing as an adult — are evident in the many Catholic and Christian themes in his work.

George Maki, and his son, Chris, take in Ted
DeGrazia’s Way of the Cross series at the
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun. The artist painted
the series in 1964 for the Newman Center
at the University of Arizona.

The mission was the first structure he built on the 10 acres in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. His home and galleries came later. His original “Little Gallery” now hosts exhibits of visiting artists, a tradition begun by his wife, Marion, after his death in 1982.
Hours: The gallery and grounds are open daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
(Grand) Kid friendly: Of course.
Info: Address — DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, 6300 N. Swan, Tucson, AZ 85718 n    Phone — 520/299-9191 n   Website — http://degrazia.org/mission-in-the-sun/l

— Sharon Boehlefeld compiled this story.
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St. Mary’s Basilica - Phoenix, Arizona

(CNS photos/Nancy Wiechec)

Destination: St. Mary’s Basilica, a Phoenix landmark since 1914, is marking its 100th year. The basilica built in the Mission Revival style is the city’s first Catholic Church and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its parish community dates back to 1872.
Masses are offered 5 p.m. Saturday; 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday (11 a.m. Mass is interpreted for the deaf); and 12:05 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Why to go:  This parish in Arizona actually has links to Illinois. According to its history (at its website), St. Mary’s traces its history to the Sacred Heart Province, “which provided early leadership to the church. The Franciscans of the Province of the Sacred Heart trace their roots from the Province of the Holy Cross, Padersborn, Westphalia, Germany (Saxony Province.) In 1858, at the invitation of Bishop Henry Damian Juncker of the Diocese of Alton, Illinois, nine friars were sent to minister to the German-speaking immigrants settling in the Midwest region. The German Friars assumed charge of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Teutopolis, Illinois on Oct. 3, 1858, and thus established the basis for the Sacred Heart Province. ... By 1879, there were 202 friars that made up the Province of the Sacred Heart. The year 1896 saw the friaries of Sacred Heart Province located in the Far West organized into a dependent commissariat. In 1915, the friaries of Sacred Heart Province on the west coast and in Arizona were canonically established in the Province of Saint Barbara.”
From this heritage, the parish in Phoenix developed.
The parish, still in the care of Franciscan friars, has an active  Secular Franciscan Order.
Extras: The gift shop is closed Monday-Wednesday, but open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday.
(Grand) Kid friendly: Children are welcome, as they would be to any church.
Info: Address: St. Mary’s Basilica, 231 N. Third St, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Phone: 602/354-2100. Web: www.saintmarysbasilica.org

- Compiled by Sharon Boehlefeld; CNS contributed to this story
Send your Catholic destinations ideas to seasonedobserver@rockforddiocese.org

Mission of San Xavier del Bac - Tucson, Arizona

(Photo provided)

Destination: The Jesuit missionary and explorer, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, first visited area that would become the Mission of San Xavier del Bac 1692.  Eight years later in 1700, Father Kino laid the foundations of the first church. He named it San Xavier in honor of his chosen patron, St. Francis Xavier, the illustrious Jesuit “Apostle of the Indies.” The present church was built between 1783 and 1797 by the Franciscan Fathers Juan Bautista Velderrain and Juan Bautista Llorenz. Francisan Friars continue to serve at the mission.

Masses at the mission are held at 6:30 a.m. Monday-Friday in Juan Diego Chapel; 8:30 a.m. Tuesday-Friday; 5:30 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Sundays from October through May. (Sunday Masses are one hour earlier in the summer.)

Why to go: If you visit the southwest, this is a stop worth making, both for its religious and historic value. As one of the oldest Catholic Churches in the U.S., it  represents a landmark of the faith in the continent. It also demonstrates the melding of the several architectural styles — Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance — with the traditional building materials of the Tohono O’odham, the native Americans for whom the mission was founded.

Restoration and maintenance work over the last 20 years has returned much of the building to its original beauty, both inside and out. The harsh desert climate, however,  demands continual attention to the state of the buidlings. An ongoing fund drive helps pay for the upkeep, so donations are happilly accepted from visitors.

Amenities: A gift shop is open daily (except Easter and Christmas) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Among items in the shop are crafts from the Tohono O’odham, renown for their fine basket work.

Access: The site is fairly easy to get around, but there are not a lot of paved areas on the grounds.

(Grand) Kid friendly: There is plenty of room for walking on the grounds, and kids are welcome at the site, but there are no special areas for them.

Info: Address: 1950 W. San Xavier Road, Tucson, AZ 85746-7409. Phone: 520/294-2624. Web: www.sanxaviermission.org

--By Sharon Boehlefeld

Send your Catholic destinations ideas to seasonedobserver@rockforddiocese.org